Race Report - Greater Cambridge 10k

Denise Fassler 10/09/2017

Race report on the Greater Cambridge 10k 10/09/2017

Having attended the inaugural race in 2016 I thought I'd give this 10k another go this year. Organised by Living Sport race HQ is the University of Cambridge Sports Centre, West Cambridge Park. Pre-race communication was efficient with an email containing all you needed to know sent out a couple of days before race day (the postcode for car parking was incorrect but we arrived in plenty of time and were only 2 minutes away from where we needed to be so not a big deal) Parking was at Madingley Park and Ride, cost £1 and was only a 10 minute walk from race HQ. The race itself starts at 10:30 with registration/number collection from 8:30 to 10:00. A quick trip down the A1 and A14 and within 45 minutes you're there.

Just over 500 ran with times ranging from 31:52 to 1:40:49 (neither of which were me!) With a wide start just a minutes walk from race HQ there wasn't too much jostling for position at the start and everyone set off to loud cheers from organisers, marshals and spectators.

The course itself is two loops around the West Cambridge Park on footpaths, cycle paths and closed roads. Mainly tarmac and hard packed path surfaces the course is described as 'fast and flat' Personally I'd question that this year as the route has changed since 2016 and was not quite as flat as I was expecting. With a little hill/incline alongside the M11 that we had to run twice there was no way I was going to beat last years time. With the faster runners coming through and lapping at a time when I was on a very narrow part of the course it did get a little tricky to keep going and not hinder their run. A minor criticism but I definitely preferred the original route.

Support wise you couldn't ask for more encouraging marshals and with plenty of spectators to keep you going as well it really was a friendly race. The water station was well manned by encouraging and supportive staff and was positioned at the 2.3k/6.8k mark. There's also water, a cereal bar (and not much else) in your goodie bag. No t-shirt at the finish but a nice bit of bling. Results appeared on the website within a couple of hours, first as gun times but quickly updated to chip times once this was pointed out. Race photos were available on the website a few hours later.